Texas's 8th congressional district

Texas received an eighth congressional district through reapportionment in 1881 as a result of population growth reflected in the 1880 Census and in 1883, James Francis Miller, a Democrat, was elected its first representative. From 1882-1892 the district was located in South Central Texas between Houston and San Antonio and was represented by Democrats. After 1893, the district was located in North Texas and was represented by a Republican representative from Fort Worth and then a Democrat from Weatherford. After the redistricting of 1902, the district shifted to Southeast Texas and the area outside of Houston and was represented by Congressmen from Huntsville, Hempstead and Richmond. From 1910-1959, the 8th district comprised all of Harris County and the city of Houston.

In 1958, part of southern Harris County became the 22nd district. The 8th and 22nd districts were separated by a boundary consisting roughly of what is now U.S. 290, the western and southern portions of Loop 610, and the portion of Buffalo Bayou east of downtown Houston including the Houston Ship Channel. Everything north of this boundary remained in the 8th.

The district was redrawn mid-decade in 1966 after the Supreme Court ruled in Wesberry v. Sanders two years earlier that congressional district populations had to be equal or close to equal in population. As a result, Houston was split between the 7th, 8th, 9th and 22nd districts. For the next 17 years, the 8th was anchored by northern Houston.

By the 1970s, the 8th district was beginning to move away from its traditional Democratic roots, and in 1980 it elected a Republican congressman, Jack Fields, over liberal seven-term incumbent Bob Eckhardt. After the 1980 Census, the 8th district was pushed further north to include conservative areas of northern Harris County (such as Fields' home in Humble) as well as the wealthier portions of Montgomery County, The 8th district's borders changed drastically in the 1990s round of redistricting, which was orchestrated by the Democratic-controlled state legislature as well as then-Congressman Martin Frost, the senior Democrat in the congressional delegation. The new 8th district was designed to pack in as many Republicans as possible and was described by some critics as the "dumbbell district" because of its strange shape. The western half of the district contained parts of Waller, Austin, and Washington counties, as well as much of Brazos County, which is home to the conservative bastion Texas A&M University. The eastern half of the district took in nearly all of now-heavily Republican Montgomery County, as well as Republican areas in northern Harris County. The two halves were joined together by a narrow tendril in Waller County. Fields continued to represent the district until his retirement in 1996, when he was succeeded by fellow Republican Kevin Brady.

The 8th district was made somewhat more compact after the 2000 census, taking in nearly all of Montgomery County and most of northern Harris County. However, it changed dramatically during the 2003 redistricting plan engineered by then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Republican from Texas's 22nd district. DeLay wanted to dislodge 4-term Democratic Congressman Jim Turner from the neighboring 2nd district, who represented a district located in East Texas that was predominantly rural and had begun moving away from its Democratic roots (Bush received 63% of the vote there in 2000). Brady's 8th district lost most of its share of Houston, instead absorbing nearly all of the southern portion of the old 2nd district. Although geographically the new 8th was more Turner's district than Brady's, half its population came from Brady's base in Montgomery County, which has as many people as the rest of the district combined. The new 8th district was so heavily Republican (Bush would have carried it in 2000 with 69% of the vote) that Turner declined to run for reelection. Brady has been reelected from this district four times with only nominal opposition.

Due to redistricting in 2012, Texas's 8th district lost its entire eastern half, with Orange, Newton, Jasper, Tyler, Hardin, Polk, and Liberty counties being removed from the district. Counties added include all of Trinity, Houston, Grimes, Madison, and the southern half of Leon County.[5]

District borders are periodically redrawn and some district residences may no longer be in the 8th district.

Member	District residence	Party	Term	Cong ess	Electoral history
District created March 4, 1883
James Francis Miller	Gonzales	Democratic	March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1887	48th 49th	[data unknown/missing] Renominated but retired.
Littleton W. Moore	La Grange	Democratic	March 4, 1887 – March 3, 1893	50th 51st 52nd	[data unknown/missing]
Charles K. Bell	Fort Worth	Democratic	March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1897	53rd 54th	[data unknown/missing]
Samuel W.T. Lanham	Weatherford	Democratic	March 4, 1897 – January 15, 1903	55th 56th 57th	[data unknown/missing] Resigned to become Governor of Texas.
Vacant			January 15, 1903 – March 3, 1903	57th
Thomas Henry Ball	Huntsville	Democratic	March 4, 1903 – November 16, 1903	58th	Redistricted from the 1st district. Resigned.
Vacant			November 16, 1903 – November 17, 1903
John M. Pinckney	Hempstead	Democratic	November 17, 1903 – April 24, 1905	58th 59th	Elected to finish Ball's term. Died.
Vacant			April 24, 1905 – June 6, 1905	59th
John M. Moore	Richmond	Democratic	June 6, 1905 – March 3, 1913	59th 60th 61st 62nd	Elected to finish Pinckney's term. [data unknown/missing]
Joe H. Eagle	Houston	Democratic	March 4, 1913 – March 3, 1921	63rd 64th 65th 66th	[data unknown/missing]
Daniel E. Garrett	Houston	Democratic	March 4, 1921 – December 13, 1932	67th 68th 69th 70th 71st 72nd	[data unknown/missing] Died.
Vacant			December 13, 1932 – January 28, 1933	72nd
Joe H. Eagle	Houston	Democratic	January 28, 1933 – January 3, 1937	72nd 73rd 74th	Elected to finish Garrett's term. [data unknown/missing]
Albert Thomas	Houston	Democratic	January 3, 1937 – February 15, 1966	75th 76th 77th 78th 79th 80th 81st 82nd 83rd 84th 85th 86th 87th 88th 89th	[data unknown/missing] Died.
Vacant			February 15, 1966 – March 26, 1966	89th
Lera Millard Thomas	Houston	Democratic	March 26, 1966 – January 3, 1967		Elected to finish her husband's term. Retired.
Bob Eckhardt	Houston	Democratic	January 3, 1967 – January 3, 1981	90th 91st 92nd 93rd 94th 95th 96th	[data unknown/missing] Lost re-election.
Jack Fields	Humble	Republican	January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1997	97th 98th 99th 100th 101st 102nd 103rd 104th	[data unknown/missing] Retired.
Kevin Brady	The Woodlands	Republican	January 3, 1997 – present	105th 106th 107th 108th 109th 110th 111th 112th 113th 114th 115th 116th 117th	Elected in 1996.

• List of United States congressional districts

• Craig McMichael for Congress.
• Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
• Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
• Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present